Athalakkai Poriyal / Stir Fry

Athalakkai looks very similar to tender
bitter gourds both in shape and colour. Those who haven't seen this
vegetable before will think that it is a form of tender bitter gourd. But its not so. It
has mild bitter taste, dark greenish in colour and tapioca
pearls like seeds.

Though this vegetable grows in most of the southern districts in Tamilnadu, still this vegetable is not very popular among local people because of its
unavailability in market. It is a kind of vegetable which
is available only during rainy and winter season(between October
and January). During this period they grow without the need for cultivation and then dry after January. The tuber root(Kilangu) stay alive in the soil till next season and grows by itself using the water which is being
passed to other cultivated plants.

Athalakkai - Tamil

Momordica Cymbalaria - botanical name

Kaasara Kaaya - Telugu

Karsikayi - Kannada

Kattupaval - Malayalam (From Wiki)

Using athalakkai, We prepare stir fry (poriyal),
gravy (pulikulambu), pickle and for making vathal (dried athalakkai). I have also heard people making thogayal using
it. The fresh athalakkai seed will burst if you pluck it from
the plant and keep it for a long time in room temperature. So, whenever
you buy athalakkai, immediately prepare any gravy or stir fry it or prepare vadam to avoid
bursting and wasting it.

My grandma used to say it grows well in black soil (karisal land). Hence it is harvested more in the
southern districts of Tamil Nadu. She also used to say it is
very good for diabetes and to prevent gastrointestinal
problems.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Athalakkai - 250grams

Small Onions / Shallots - 1/2 cup, finely sliced

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Sambar masala - 1 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 3 teaspoons

Curry leaves - 1 string

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoons

Asafoetida - a pinch

Method:

1) Cut both the ends/corners of the athalakkai using hands and wash it well it water two or three times. Keep it aside.

2) Take a frying pan / kadai. Heat 3 teaspoons of oil in it.

3) When the oil is hot and not smoking, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. It will splutter.

4) Add asafoetida and onion.

5) Saute it till the onion becomes soft and translucent but not brown. Add a pinch of salt for quick cooking of onions.

6) Add the washed athalakkai now. Sprinkle a
handful of water. Turn the flame to low and cover the frying pan with
lid. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes on the low flame.

7) After 7 minutes. remove lid and add red chilli
powder, sambar masala, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well and continue
cooking till the raw smell of masala goes off. It will again take
another 5 minutes.

8) Check the athalakkai whether it is cooked or not. The skin will turn into soft once cooked. Turn the flame off.

9) Serve it with hot steamed rice.

Notes:

1) After cooking athalakkai, though the skin turns soft, the seeds give a crunchy taste.

2) It tastes slightly bitter like bitter gourd. So
try adding more onion (if you like) and prepare a stir fry. By this way you
can reduce the bitterness to some extent.

Eggless Chocolate Apple Cake

Cakes with egg and butter give a nice texture and taste. But I always craved for egg-less cakes. Though I can eat cakes with egg flavor, I prefer baking egg less cakes most of the time at home.



When I tried this cake for the first time from this site, I used whole wheat flour and it didn't give expected results. It didn't rise at all but the taste of the cake was good. Tried this cake again with whole wheat pastry flour and the result was perfect and as expected. Initially after cooling the cake, when I cut few slices from it, it looked like a brownie. But the texture was good when I cut them into slices the next day after storing it overnight in refrigerator. To me, the difficulty level is little complex as it requires correct ingredients and proper mixing of the batter. Don't compromise with any of the ingredients and take extra care while preparing the cake batter. It is worth trying if you really need a healthy cake and at the same time you don't want to compromise your chocolate craving.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

Serves: 12 persons



Ingredients:



Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 and 1/2 cups (see notes)

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/4 cup

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Water - 1 cup

Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup - 1 cup (I used brown sugar)

Unsweetened applesauce - 1/4 cup (see notes)

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Fresh lemon juice - 1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Grated/peeled, cored and diced apple - 1 cup

Method:



1) Preheat the oven to 350F/180C for 10-15 minutes. Grease the round / square baking tin with oil and the dust it with flour. You can also use butter paper/parchment paper.

2) In a clean and dry mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Do it twice (if possible) for even mixing of all the ingredients.

3) Take another mixing bowl and mix water, applesauce, oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Just mix enough.

4) Mix these wet ingredients with the dry ones. Stir carefully just until it absorbs moisture. Do not over stir or over mix.

5) At last, add the grated apples and sugar. Gently fold them with batter. Take care not to over fold it.

6) Pour this batter to the prepared baking tin and bake it for 30-35 minutes. Check the cake with a tooth pick by inserting it into the centre of the cake. It should come out clean.

7) After few minutes, transfer the cake to the wire rock and cool completely.

8) When the cake is at room temperature, cut them into slices and enjoy.

Notes:

1) If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour, substitute it with All-purpose flour. I first tried it with whole wheat flour and the cake didn't rise at all. But the taste of the cake was good.

2) Then I first baked, I found 3/4 cup of sugar is less to my taste and added 1 cup next time when I baked it for the second time.

3) I used homemade apple sauce in this recipe. To prepare it, peel and dice one apple and cook it along with 1/2 cup of water till it becomes soft. Then cool it to room temperature. Once cooled, blend it to a smooth paste and use it. Before blending, if there is excess water, first drain it and then blend it to a paste.

4) If you don't have lemon juice, substitute it with a tablespoon of White distilled vinegar.

5) The cake's texture is very good after refrigeration.

Pachama Podi Upma

Usually at 4 PM during work-days, I go out for tea break with my colleagues Prathima and Bharat. We used to discuss or talk about many things. This is totally relaxing in an otherwise hectic working day. During one such tea break, Bharat started asking me about few recipes. First, he asked me whether I know to prepare Morkkali which I knew anyways. He then enquired about Pachama Podi Upma. I blinked and replied "No" to him. With a smile, he replied that his Amma(Mom) prepares this dish at home for breakfast /evening tiffin. As the name and dish were totally new to me, I immediately asked him about the recipe. He called his mom over phone and got the recipe for me. Last weekend, I prepared it as per Bharat mom's instructions. The procedure is as simple as corn flour upma (I am yet to post this) which we usually make at home. However in this dish we add curd to the flour which we normally don't add while making corn flour upma. I felt happy for knowing yet another traditional breakfast dish and thanks to Bharat for sharing this recipe.

Pachama Podi Upma literally means Pacha Mavu(Raw rice flour) Podi(Crumble) Upma, A upma that is prepared using raw rice flour which gives a small crumble texture as an end result.

The upma tasted really good with nice flavor from more/moar (curd) milagai and asafoetida. Point to mention here is that the crust of the upma which forms in the bottom part of the pan tasted very very good, but be careful not to burn it, otherwise you can't enjoy its taste.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Curd / Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
More Milagai / Dahi mirchi / Curd marinated dried chillies - 2 nos (optional)
Dry red chillies - 3-4 nos
Curry leaves - 1 string
Channa dal - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1) Take the rice flour in a mixing bowl and add salt.
2) Add yogurt/curd gently to the rice flour and make a dough of it. Keep aside.

3) Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add mustard seeds, channa dal, curry leaves, dry red chillies, more milagai and asafoetida. Fry for a 3 seconds without burning anything.
4) Add the prepared dough to the pan. Start stirring it. Adjust the salt if required.

5) Keep on stirring the dough for another 10 minutes. You'll notice that dough will start turning into crumbles. Keep on doing it till the rice flour mixture completely cooked. After some time, it will have soft and crumble texture.
6) Once cooked, transfer it to a serving bowl and enjoy. It won't stick to your fingers once it is properly cooked.

7) Best eaten with more milagai (curd milagai).

Notes:

1) Reduce the salt quantity if you are using more milagai as this itself has salt in it.
2) Increase or decrease the curd as per your taste.